- * Ruling Party's Influence Under Threat Ahead Of 2023 General Elections
- As INEC Plans Review Of BVAS Performance
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) and Desmond Ukandu (Politics Editor)
FCT Area Council Final Results For Chairmanship At A Glance:
- ABAJI - PDP
- AMAC - PDP
- BWARI - PDP
- GWAGWALADA - APC
- KUJE - PDP
- KWALI - APC
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared the results of the various Abuja FCT Area Councils election held on Saturday, February 12, 2022, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defeated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by four to two, in the chairmanship election.
The poll result so far announced on Sunday by the INEC Returning Officers for the Area Councils, indicates, as shown above, that the PDP won Abaji, Amac, Kuje and Bwari chairmanship seats, leaving APC with only two, Gwagwalada and Kali Councils.
The election exercise monitored on Saturday by NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper field Correspondents, reveals that though there was apparent low turn out of voters in most of the polling units in the Six Area Councils of the FCT visited, the election was reasonably peaceful with minimal cases of irregularities and unsavory incidents.
In the result of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) declared on Sunday at Karu by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Sani Saka, Christopher Zakka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged winner of the poll for the AMAC chairmanship election.
Zakka scored a total of 19,302 votes to defeat Murtala Usman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 13,240 votes out of the 34,675 total votes cast in the election.
The AMAC's INEC Retuning Officer, Prof. Sani Saka, declared that “Zakka of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is here declared winner and returned elected.” He said the total number of accredited voters in the council election was 35,010; total registered voters was 687,274; valid votes was 33,764; while the invalid votes was 21.
Prof Sara however declared the results thus: Daniya Bature of Action Alliance (AA) scored 30 votes; Nnamchi Ani of African Action Congress (AAC) scored 29; Zamani David of African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 103; Gomina Kabiru of Action Democratic Party (ADP) 130, Murtala Usman of APC, 13,240; Bala Iyah of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), 135.
The INEC Returning Officer also announced that Bayero Ibrahim, candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), scored 104 votes; Eze Omeifejideofor of Labour Party (LP), 124 votes; Oke Abel of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), 31 votes; Samuel Mina of National Resistance Movement (NRM), 123 votes.
Votes scored by other candidates include Zakka of the PDP 19,302; Eric Ibe of Social Democratic Party (SDP), 39; Odoh Michael of Young Progressives Congress (YPP), 87; and Al-Muntaka Idris of People’s Redemption Party (PRP), 287.
A breakdown of the votes shows that in Gwarinpa Ward, PDP scored 2,609 votes; APC 2,086; LP 33. The ward has 99,384; registered voters, 4,953; accredited voters, 4,937; total votes cast; 4,847 valid votes; and 90 rejected votes.
In Wuse Ward with 88,068 total registered voters, 1,997 accredited voters, 1,895 total votes cast, 1,856 total valid votes and 39 rejected votes, where the APC polled 933 votes, PDP 857 votes, NNRM 23, YPP six andIn Nyanya ward, PDP polled 1,861 votes, while the APC scored 1,199 votes. In Jiwa Ward APC scored 1,224 votes, while PDP scored 1,429 votes.
For Gui Ward, APC scored 834, PDP – 1,606 votes, while in Karshi Ward – APC polled -1,477 votes, and PDP – 180 votes.
For Gwagwa ward APC scored 1,158 votes; PDP 1,624 votes. Orozo Ward: APC polled 335, while PDP scored 674 votes.
Also at City Center Ward, APC scored -1,093, PDP – 1,137. In Garki Ward, APC had 914 votes, PDP – 2,983 votes; in Karu Ward – APC scored 863 and PDP 1,848 votes; while in Kabusa Ward, APC scored 1,124 votes and PDP 2,494 votes.
For AMAC election, 14 political parties, including AA, APC, DPD, SDP and YPP nominated candidates for the poll, with only one female nominated by NRM and five others nominated for vice chairmanship position.
The 12 councilorship seats were also contested by 98 candidates comprising 15 females and 83 males.
AMAC has 687,274 registered voters and 1,401 polling units. The FCT Area Council has a total of 68 constituencies for six chairmen and 62 councillors.
The election to the chairmanship position was contested by 55 candidates (52 male and three female) while the vice-chairmanship consists of 47 male and eight female candidates sponsored by 14 political parties.
There were 363 candidates who contested for the councillorship positions comprising 332 males and 31 female contestants.Overall, some 473 candidates and their running mates vied for 68 elective posts.
However, in Kuje Area Council, the PDP also won the chairmanship seat.
Announcing the result on Sunday morning, the INEC Returning Officer for Kuje Area Council, Sule Magaji, declared that the incumbent chairman of the Council, Suleiman Sabo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election with a total of 13,301 votes to trounce his closest rival, Sarki Hamidu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who secured 7,694 votes to emerge second.
With his victory, Sabo will be going for his second tenure in office. He defeated five other candidates in each of the 10 wards in the area council. The
Labour Party (LP) Chairmanship candidate, Loveday Ajo, secured 79 votes. The PDP candidate, Suleiman Sabo, defeated the APC with a total margin of 5,607 votes.
In Bwari Area Council, the PDP also emerged winner with its chairmanship candidate, Mr Shekwogaza Gabaya, leading the poll.
Announcing the election results on Sunday in Bwari, INEC Returning/Collation Officer for the Area, Prof. (Mrs) Amuche Madu, said that Gabaya polled 13, 045 votes to emerge winner, while Mr Haruna Shekwolo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came second with 7, 697 votes. He also stated that Abubakar Abdullahi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) placed third with 603 votes.
“Shekwogaza Gabaya of PDP, having certified the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” she said. By his victory, Gabaya is being re-elected for a second term in office.
The Bwari election was conducted across the 10 wards of the council- Igu, Kubwa, Dutse, Kawu, Byazin, Shere, Bwari central, Kuduru and Usuma.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it plans to review the performance and functionalities of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS ) during the Saturday’s FCT Area Council Poll.
The FCT INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Yahaya Bello, said this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.
Bello said that the Commission had observed challenges faced by voters due to non functionality of the BVAS and was working to address them.
“Equally, there was also the misunderstanding about what to do with the BVAS.
“The election is the only Area Council Election in this country that is being conducted by INEC and it invested heavily in the preparation for the election. We have Registration Area Centre Techniciains trained in order to respond to any malfunctioning of the BVAS and provided transportation for them for swift response,” he said.
Bello said that six INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners and three National Commissioners were drafted to the election to ensure its success.
“We have upcoming elections, so between now and then the issues would be looked into to avoid future challenges,” he said. (With additional reports from NAN). NNL.
